 You may use this Message: "Overcoming Depression" as a pulpit resource. You may also use it and reprint it in YOUR LOCAL CHURCH with the credit: "Copyright J.P.Jewell 1996" - From the Booklet, "Overcoming Depression". This material should not be used beyond your local church. OVERCOMING DEPRESSION Depression is such a common experience in our time that it has been called the common cold of modern psychiatry. We should probably feel a sense of sympathy for the medical profession in its effort to do something for depression beyond prescribing a mood elevator. That's about as effective as treating the common cold with aspirin. I am concerned about depression. It is responsible for more heartache and waste of human energy than most of us are aware of. It strikes at the heart of contemporary life because so many people are affected by it. I am also concerned about depression because I believe it is primarily a spiritual disorder and it can not be successfully overcome without giving attention to the spiritual dimension of life. Depression is, in part, the price we pay for the very heavy investment of our culture in the physical and material order of things. We are a "thing" and "possession" oriented society and the price of that is, in some measure, the loss of meaning and purpose. As a physically "run down" person is more susceptible to the common cold, so a "spiritually "run down" person is more susceptible to depression. By spiritually run down, I mean simply a person who has given little or no attention to the development of the spiritual dimension of life. I've developed my approach to depression partly by talking with people in churches I have served, partly while working with patients and staff in a hospital setting and perhaps most significantly... partly while working through dark and depressing times in my own life. I've watched people attempt to deal with their depression with drugs, mood elevators, psychotherapy and all of that under the direction of their physician. My impression Is that genuine healing is hard to come by because we've ignored the central issue of this serious ailment of the human spirit. Webster's dictionary describes depressed as: "pressed down; hence, dejected; dispirited. Did you catch that! Webster says to be depressed is to have the spirit taken out of you! While Webster is certainly no theologian, much less a psychiatrist, he does have an interesting way to talk about being depressed. I want to repeat... depression is in large measure a spiritual disorder. There are physical, emotional and social components to it, but the essence of depression is spiritual. It is safe to assume that the majority of us have struggled with depression at one time or another. For some it is a short lived time of being blue or "out of sorts." For others it is as tough as wishing we could go to sleep some night and just not wake up! How ever we've experienced it, there are precious few of us who could claim we can't relate to the topic of depression. Even the Psalmist of many centuries ago knew about the topic and cried out:
At the same time as he cried out, King David the Psalmist knew that there was something spiritual about his condition:
If you read through the Psalms, you will discover that the Psalmist was more than open with God about his depressing times. He would pour out his heart in anguish. But he did pour it out and he did include God at the heart of his depression. He knew the source of the possibility for healing. At the end of the 42nd Psalm, he says:
There are different kinds of depression. There is discouragement which comes along in all our lives. Events crop up which get us down, but we deal with them. The depression we experience is real, but brief, and we do okay with our experience and go on. There is a more severe kind of situational depression that can come with major illness, loss of job, or the death of someone we love. But even these can be dealt with... we manage to cope and there is nothing abnormal about our feelings. It is not pleasant to experience major shakeups in our living, but our reaction of feeling depressed is normal. Most times, we recover. There is a kind of depression which is related to chemicals. I discovered after using reserpine for two years for blood pressure that reserpine can cause depression. A change in medication relieved two years of "blue Mondays", but I wasn't happy that this could have been avoided had I or my doctor been more aware. Check your medications if you find your emotional or spiritual functioning takes a dive. 5% of people who are chronically depressed have a biological malfunction which can be discovered by tests. One of the major chemical factors in depression is alcohol. Although people talk about getting "high", the fact is that alcohol is a depressant. Depression is a common ailment accompanying alcoholism. There is another insidious kind of depression... the dark and pervasive cloud that seems to fill some lives. There is almost an evil quality about this kind of depression that "clings" to its victims as though they were "possessed" by something outside of themselves. You may recall a character named Joe Pfzzts from 'Lil Abner. He was the one with the black cloud that followed him just over the top of his head wherever he went. Disaster and depression were his daily fare and the world looked gloomy as soon as he entered even a single frame of Al Capp’s cartoon. Maybe you know a Joe Pfzzt or two in your life. I remember one from my high school days. To be around him was to be depressed. He could ruin the most beautiful of days. On a sunlit morning when the sun danced on the crest of tiny waves at our favorite beach, and I was anticipating a day of fun and laughter with friends at the lake, he remarked, "It will probably rain and spoil everything!" It was said of my poor friend that he could make God depressed! Depression is real and it is powerful and it is destructive of human potential. It can rob you of all that is beautiful and joyful... if you let it. There is a power that can help. God's intention for your life is that you should live with a sense of joy and power - BUT - it must begin with your initiative! Jesus said in John 14:27, "Peace is my parting gift to you, my own peace such as the world can not give. Set your troubled hearts at rest and banish your fears." Again, He said, "I have come that you might have joy!" The power for healing of depression is available it you are willing to turn to it. If you truly want to do something about depression, and are willing to try something new, I want to offer the assurance that you can get better! I believe God is able to work in your life if you will cooperate in some spiritual therapy. (Spiritual therapy means simply - spiritual healing.) It is in the spiritual dimension of life that God has a doorway to reach us. As we take some steps and reach out, we can begin to claim God’s power for a sense of wholeness we may never have experienced before. EIGHT STEPS YOU CAN TAKE 1 Open Up Your Life: Take a lesson from the morning glory. Each day with the light of dawn, the morning glory opens up to receive the light of the sun. Even when the sun is behind the clouds, it is still there and the morning glory knows that and opens to the light. If It stayed shut, it would eventually shrivel up and die. Our spirits can do that! The human spirit needs to be opened up daily (right from the get go!), and receive the light of the SON who said, "I have come that you might have life and have it more abundantly." 2. Admit That You Are Not In Control: A psychiatrist friend (not the one who takes care of me) said, When I am depressed, I am usually spiritually sick and unhappy because I refuse to accept my limits and fail to trust God with my life." Most spiritual difficulty - and thus much depression - comes in part from trying to be God for ourselves (and possibly the people around us like coworkers, parents, children or spouse) and thus we can not accept the fact that we are not in control. One of the ways I am reminded of my inability to control my world is any time I come to a railroad crossing and I am in a hurry - and a huge freight train crosses my path. I remember the time (many, many years ago!) when I threw a small fit because of a freight train keeping me from getting where I wanted to be at the time I wanted to be there. It was as though the officials of the railroad should have known I would be at the tracks at exactly 10:35 am and made arrangements for my clear passage! When I take my spiritual inventory, I sometimes find an exaggerated sense of self importance which must go if I am to avoid depression. So admit it. You are not in control. Not in control of the world or the people around you. There is a power greater than you, so join the club of humanity. A club of imperfect, limited, mistake-making human beings who are in need of a "Higher Power". 3. Surrender: When you can accept the fact that you are a limited human being, the time has come to turn it over. Some people say, "Let go and let God!" It is through the dark night of the soul that saints throughout the ages came to a profound experience of the peace of God. When we want life without limits or peace without pain, we defeat ourselves and wind up in depression, fatigue and anxiety. When I know I am defeated, I can surrender and begin to live. Picture depression as a champion prize fighter. You get in the ring with him every day and you fight away. Finally you recognize that the only thing to do is surrender. You take off the gloves, drop them in the middle of the ring, turn your back and walk away. This thing is bigger than you, so you surrender and let God in to work. You might pray something like:
4. Talk To Someone: Most of us are caught up in a destructive self sufficiency. We want to go it alone and even make a virtue out of our attempts to overcome difficulties all by ourselves. But that's the old control" issue. We want to be in control and talking to someone else would be admitting we have needs. But, people who have a hard time turning to others in times of personal trial also have a hard time in really turning to God except in a perfunctory and mechanical way. Seek out someone you can trust and someone who is in touch with the healing power of God. Depression has a large spiritual component to it and needs the intervention of God. 5. Live One Day At A Time: Jesus said, "Do not be anxious about tomorrow. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble." We have no power over tomorrow, nor do we have power over yesterday. We ~, however, have the choice to live out today the best we can. Remember: "Today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday!" Learn to live NOW and experience the present moment fully. Worry will waste your emotional, physical, social and spiritual being. So live now... this moment... and enjoy it. Tomorrow will take care of tomorrow. 6. Get Some Discipline Into Your Life: Most depressed people are very undisciplined. They think discipline and have a hundred great intentions for the tomorrow which never comes. Part of this difficulty is that we can get paralyzed by our fears, anxieties and worries. Begin today (within the next hour!) to keep a daily spiritual journal where you can begin some attempts at conversation with God. Then get out and do something physical. Take a walk, sign up for a course at the local college, go to the YMCA... BUT DON'T SIT THERE! Physical inactivity by itself will aggravate your depression. It is a vicious circle. You don't do anything because you are depressed and you are too depressed to get up and do anything. You must begin to move! Jesus said, "COME to Me all you who labor and are heavy laden." Not "SIT there all you...." There was also a promise He made. "The one who COMES to Me, I will not turn away." 7. Do Something For Someone Else: You are probably much too wrapped up in your own problems. The prophet Isaiah said centuries ago, "Share your food with the hungry, take the homeless into your house, clothe the naked person... THEN shall your light rise in the darkness." Get busy and do something for someone else. Volunteer at your local church, hospital, youth organization and use your talents. I remember a woman who lived with intense daily arthritic pain. But, she walked a mile every day leaning on her cane... on her way to volunteer at the hospital! I never heard her mention her pain. I never heard her complain. She always had a smile and patients said she brought the sunshine with her. If you truly want to overcome your depression, include reaching out to others in your program of healing. 8. Finally Watch For The Yabuts: Watch for the tendency to excuse yourself from healing by saying, "Yes but." i.e. Doing something for someone else will help: "Yes but, I don't have any skills." Or, Living one day at a time will help: "Yes but, I have so many troubles I can't live one day at a time like others." Well. talk to someone else - that will help: "Yes but, I don't talk very well." Do you get it? The "Yah but" syndrome will defeat you every time. Some final words of encouragement. There is hope! Depression can be the groundwork out of which a really creative and joyful life can emerge. The light may seem to be an awfully long way down the tunnel, or it may not be visible at all, but once you decide to move toward the healing light of the power of God, you WILL find hope and healing. If you are willing to seek the renewal which comes from faith, you will join some pretty powerful company like: Walt Whitman, John Bunyan, Byron, Keats, Abraham Lincoln and Norman Vincent Peale. Depression can feed upon itself and become and endless, dark maze - or you may use it now as a preparation for the renewal of your life. Listen to the words of St. Paul:
Depression can be like a superhuman power, like an evil spirit, but the promise St. Paul made is that even the deepest and darkest depression is not beyond the power of God. I have seen people who turned their depression into creative joy for life. I have seen people take the darkest night of the soul and emerge Into the light of peace and serenity. But... It never came from prescription drugs alone. It never came from psychotherapy alone. The genuine transformation of a depressed soul is more miraculous to me than the cure of a malignant cancer. I have seen healing of depression come through prayer and the healing power of Jesus Christ. He is as desirous of touching us today as He was when He walked on the face of this planet. You can find that healing too! | Use Your Browser's Back Button To Return To Previous Page | |
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